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I’m Bob Larson. The early February deadline to be counted in the Census of Agriculture survey has long-since passed, but the data collected is so important the National Agricultural Statistics Service will continue accepting them through Spring.

The USDA’s Chris Mertz says only 54.1 percent have been returned so far …

MERTZ … “So, we need to get that bumped up, especially in our area here. We have a lot of diversity in our agriculture in the northwest. So, if we want to account for all the different types of farms and farmers that we have, we need to make sure we have a good set of data, good responses from all the producers so we can advocate for U.S. agriculture.”

Mertz says one thing the PNW can brag about is we are all pretty good at the electronic or online reporting …

MERTZ … “Oregon, Washington and Idaho are in the top four. Idaho is leading the country at 19.7% responses are coming via the internet. Oregon is at 16.1% and Washington is at an even 15%. So, we do quite well using the technology in reporting so we appreciate that as well.”

Bottom line, Mertz says we need that data ASAP …

MERTZ … “We’re going to be calling people, contacting people, through May I’m sure, but let’s get that done as soon as possible and if you get it returned then we will not be calling you or maybe knocking on your door to say hey, where’s our information.”

Mertz says responding online can also save you time.

For questions, go to agcensus dot usda dot gov … or call the NASS office in Olympia at (360) 890-3300.